Tag: New Haven

It was a long day for both of us, but especially Dave. He was the one who just got off a plane after a 24-hour-ordeal, starting off on the other side of the world. We drove back to the hotel I stayed in the night before, taking the long way down the south coast of Connecticut. I had reached the other side of the country, and rolled 6,000 solo miles. Now it’s time to make this journey with my partner. For our first leg together, we talked about our respective journeys apart – his in China, and the flight through India, mine across the northern part of the US. Together, we wound our way through rich areas: so many expensive car dealerships, showing off their large inventories out front. When we arrived, Dave settled in for his six-hour nap and I went off to sing.

I made it to the other coast!

I find the address of the bar, after navigating my way around downtown New Haven, which seemed brand new and without any character. The street was partially closed, but the neighborhood was safe enough to walk around, so parking a bit of a distance away felt OK. I did an excellent job of parallel parking. I saw a few young women dressed for clubbing stumbling around on the sterile streets.

I walk down a newly-constructed alleyway in the middle of the block and enter the bar, chat with the bartender, and order a local IPA. There are a few people here, and a large stage. It doesn’t look like anyone is considering a performance – that’s because no one is. I’m in the wrong place. I laugh about it with the bartender/owner and the one remaining person there, who also works there as a social and event manager I presume from their discussions. We talk about Facebook and its restrictions on event planning. I finish my beer and go further down the alley to where I was supposed to be.

The alleyway that leads to a few bars — some better than others.

The look of Karaoke Heroes was completely different from the first bar. Here, it was light, airy, and made to look like a private room more reminiscent of an Asian establishment. Comic strip images decorated the walls, and I took a seat in an orange plastic chair at a white plastic table. Silver pleather couches lined the walls.

Everyone here was hammered. A group of women sat up where the couches were, behind a table full of empty Corona bottles and tall cocktail glasses. A few men weaved around the bar, and another couple sat at their table with a tray full of beer cans. The women dominated the singing that night, performing classic 80s tunes. During Time of My Life, they attempted the Dirty Dancing leap to no avail (this was probably fortunate).

To put in a song, you needed to go up to the bartender (who often wasn’t there, or even in the room) and ask for a slip of paper. Then, you wrote your song down and put it by the unmanned computer. Eventually, the bartender would program your choice in and it would show up on the screen – just the song title, no name. No KJ announcing when a song was over and who was up next. Just a list of songs on a little screen that you needed to follow to see when it was time to go up again.

Too bad the first bar wasn’t the right place after all.

The basics:

Location: Karaoke Heroes, New Haven, CT

Miles traveled: 174 miles (plus another 202 to and from JFK to get Dave)